Klark
A masculine name derived from the English word "clerk" or the Latin "clericus".
Name Census estimates that about 147 living Americans carry the first name Klark. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 84.1% of registrations being male. The average person named Klark today is around 17 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Klark births was 2017 (20 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Klark. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
People living today
147
~ 1 in 2,331,662 Americans
Peak year
2017
20 babies that year
Average age
17
years old
2023 SSA rank
#6,084
Tracked since 1964
Census
Klark in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 216 people with the first name Klark, which placed it at #36,618 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#36,618
National first-name rank
People counted
216
216 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
70.8% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Klark
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Klark is White at 70.8%. The next largest groups are Black (15.7%) and Hispanic (6.0%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Klark described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Klark at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White70.8% · 153
- Black or African American15.7% · 34
- Hispanic or Latino6.0% · 13
- Asian and Pacific Islander4.2% · 9
- Two or more races2.3% · 5
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.9% · 2
Gender
Gender distribution for Klark
Klark leans heavily male at 84.1% of total registrations, but 24 girls have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Klark as a male name
- Ranked #6,084 in 2023
- 15 male births in 2023
- Peak: 2023 (15 births)
Klark as a female name
- Ranked #16,389 in 2020
- 5 female births in 2020
- Peak: 2019 (7 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Klark leans strongly male. 178 people counted with this name were male (84.4%), compared with 33 female bearers (15.6%).
Popularity
Klark: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Klark from the 1960s through to the 2020s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 75 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Klark remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Klark by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Klark during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Klark
The name Klark is a variant spelling of the English name Clark, which is derived from the Latin clericus, meaning "cleric" or "priest." The name's origins can be traced back to the medieval period, when clerks were often members of the clergy who served in administrative roles within the church.
During the Middle Ages, the name Clark was commonly used as a surname to denote someone's occupation as a clerk or scribe. It was not until the 16th century that the name began to be used as a given name, particularly among Protestants who rejected the idea of clerical celibacy.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Klark can be found in the records of the English Reformation. William Klark, a Protestant reformer and academic, lived from around 1498 to 1541. He was a prominent figure in the early years of the English Reformation and served as a chaplain to King Henry VIII.
Another notable figure with the name Klark was Samuel Klark, an English writer and philosopher who lived from 1675 to 1729. He is best known for his work "A Demonstration of the Being and Attributes of God," which was influential in the development of rational theology.
In the 19th century, the name Klark gained popularity in the United States. One of the most famous Americans with this name was Klark Gable, the iconic Hollywood actor who starred in numerous classic films such as "Gone with the Wind" and "The Hunchback of Notre Dame." Gable was born in 1901 and died in 1960.
Another notable American with the name Klark was Klark Griffith, a pioneering aviator and engineer who lived from 1890 to 1962. He is best known for his contributions to the development of the modern aircraft and his work on the Wright brothers' early flying machines.
In more recent times, the name Klark has been associated with several notable figures in the fields of music and literature. Klark Kent was the real name of the famous American singer and songwriter better known as "The Prince of Darkness," Ozzy Osbourne. Kent was born in 1948 and rose to fame as the lead singer of the heavy metal band Black Sabbath.
These are just a few examples of the rich history and notable individuals associated with the name Klark. While the spelling may vary, the name's roots can be traced back to the medieval period and its association with the clergy and the written word.
People
Klark + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Klark as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with K
Other first names starting with K with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Klark: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Klark?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 147 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Klark going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 2,331,662 US residents.
Is Klark a common name?
We classify Klark as "Very Rare". It ranks above 70% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 151 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Klark most popular?
The single biggest year for Klark was 2017, when 20 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Klark is about 17 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Klark in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 216 people with the name Klark, or 0.07 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #36,618 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Klark in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Klark?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Klark leans strongly male. 178 people counted with this name were male (84.4%), compared with 33 female bearers (15.6%). The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Klark?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Klark is White at 70.8%. The next largest groups are Black (15.7%) and Hispanic (6.0%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Klark most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Klark in the 2020 Census, accounting for 70.8% (153 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Klark in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Klark a male name?
Yes, 84.1% of people registered as Klark in the SSA data are male. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Klark still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Klark in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Klark can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How common is the name Klark?
Our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers how many people share the name Klark at a glance, with the living-bearer count up front.